Manchester United icon Roy Keane has spent the majority of the season dismissing Liverpool's Champions League credentials at every turn.

But is the Cork man ready to finally accept the Reds have a strong case for European Cup number six next month?

The often outspoken Irishman has regularly shot down Jurgen Klopp and his side in his role as pundit for ITV's Champions League coverage , offering a series of withering soundbites on a weekly basis.

The legendary former United captain claimed Liverpool were "drifting" back in the Autumn, before paraphrasing a famous quote from Bill Shankly about closing his curtains if they were playing in his back garden.

Keane was also unimpressed with the Reds for scoring 23 goals and finishing their group campaign as competition's highest scorers.

A routine 3-0 win over Maribor cut little ice with Keane, when he said: "It's hard to get excited about them. To me, they are going nowhere fast."

Keane has been steadfast in his insistence that Liverpool won't be troubling Europe's elite - but after watching the Reds beat Manchester City with a 5-1 aggregate scoreline in the quarter-finals, it seems the former midfielder is ready to eat humble pie, of sorts.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (Image: Inpho)

On ITV's highlights show on Wednesday night, Keane was asked about his previous comments and whether he was ready to change his tune by presenter Mark Pougatch.

Here's how the exchange played out on ITV.

Keane : "They have improved defensively over the last few months and I think you have to give the manager and the players a lot of credit for that."

Pougatch : "So have you changed your mind a bit? Because this is what you said on the show last Autumn. You said: 'Win the league and the Champions League? No. Forget about it.

"'I think they have enough to get through the group but later on against Real Madrid and all the big boys they will be laughing at Liverpool.'"

Keane : "And what did I say after that? The defence.

"That was always the big concern for me. Earlier in the season some of the performances away at Man City, away at Spurs, you just felt they were going to concede, especially against the biggest teams.

"But they have improved that over the last few months. With the signing [of Virgil van Dijk] they have a settled back four, Andy Robertson has come in and done really well.

"[Klopp] is obviously sticking with the same goalkeeper now and there's a lot of confidence in the back four. Again, the players deserve huge credit.

"Van Dijk has come in and been a big presence himself, but he's certainly helped the players around him and that's what the good players do."

It sounds to like Klopp has turned Keane from a doubter to a believer...